Exploring Alizarin Crimson: History, Fun Facts, and Modern Uses

Trevor: 00:00:00

Okay, just getting ready for episode four.

Trevor: 00:00:04

Another special episode on a particular colour, this time Alizarin Crimson.

Trevor: 00:00:10

There's going to be a lot of fun facts in this one.

Trevor: 00:00:12

I hope people like fun facts.

Trevor: 00:00:15

Might be just a little too many.

Trevor: 00:00:16

Anyway, we'll see what Alice comes up with.

Trevor: 00:00:19

Oh, that'll be Alice now.

Alice: 00:00:23

Good morning, Trevor.

Alice: 00:00:24

Sorry, I'm a little bit tired.

Trevor: 00:00:26

Hi, Alice.

Trevor: 00:00:27

Did you stay up late last night?

Alice: 00:00:29

Yes, I was watching the Paris Olympics.

Alice: 00:00:33

I thought I understood most aspects of human behaviour, but after

Alice: 00:00:37

watching that opening ceremony, I now realise that I have a lot to learn.

Trevor: 00:00:42

I wouldn't worry too much Alice, I think there's a lot of

Trevor: 00:00:44

people out there still scratching their heads over that one.

Trevor: 00:00:48

In any event, let's get on with today's episode about Alizarin Crimson,

Trevor: 00:00:53

I've got a lot of fun facts, I'm sure you've got a lot of fun facts.

Trevor: 00:00:57

I'll just hit record and we'll get on with the episode.

Trevor: 00:01:00

This is a podcast where we talk about art supplies.

Trevor: 00:01:03

Our aim is to educate and inform and help you become an expert on art supplies.

Trevor: 00:01:08

If your job is to sell art supplies, then this podcast will be perfect for you.

Trevor: 00:01:14

Or maybe you just want to know more about art supplies, in which case

Trevor: 00:01:17

this podcast is still perfect for you.

Trevor: 00:01:21

This is the only podcast deep dives into obscure scientific and historical

Trevor: 00:01:26

fun facts relating to art supplies.

Trevor: 00:01:30

If that sounds good to you, then stick around and join us as we all

Trevor: 00:01:35

attempt to become art supplies experts.

Trevor: 00:01:45

Hello and welcome to the art supplies experts podcast.

Trevor: 00:01:49

I'm Trevor

Alice: 00:01:50

and I'm Alice, and today we're going to be talking about

Alice: 00:01:53

the colour Alizarin Crimson.

Trevor: 00:01:55

Yes, Alizarin Crimson is not so widely used today, but it's an

Trevor: 00:02:00

interesting pigment to look at because it's a good example of an organic

Trevor: 00:02:04

pigment with an interesting history.

Trevor: 00:02:06

Alizarin Crimson is of course a red colour, and we thought that before

Trevor: 00:02:11

getting into the specifics about Alizarin Crimson, it would be good to

Trevor: 00:02:15

talk in general terms about the colour

Alice: 00:02:17

red.

Alice: 00:02:18

It is believed that people first began dyeing cloth sometime between

Alice: 00:02:22

the 6th and 4th millennia BC.

Alice: 00:02:25

Most of the scraps of dyed cloth that date from this time, until the Roman

Alice: 00:02:30

era, were coloured a shade of red.

Alice: 00:02:33

So special was this colour that for the Romans, the words Coloratus,

Alice: 00:02:37

meaning coloured, and Ruber, meaning red, were synonymous.

Alice: 00:02:42

i.

Alice: 00:02:42

e.

Alice: 00:02:43

they had the same meaning.

Trevor: 00:02:44

Ruber, meaning red, is itself a direct ancestor of our

Trevor: 00:02:48

word Rubella, a disease named for the reddish colour one's skin turns

Trevor: 00:02:54

when afflicted with the condition.

Alice: 00:02:56

Luckily I don't have to worry about contracting Rubella.

Alice: 00:03:00

Fully

Trevor: 00:03:00

immunised Alice?

Alice: 00:03:03

Let's just say that my virus protection is up to date.

Trevor: 00:03:07

Red was the first basic colour term added to

Trevor: 00:03:10

languages after black and white.

Trevor: 00:03:13

The word derives from Sanskrit and Proto Germanic languages.

Trevor: 00:03:18

And one of the first written records of the use of the word Red comes from

Trevor: 00:03:23

1897 an Old English translation of Pastoral Care written by Pope St Gregory.

Trevor: 00:03:30

Where he used the words, On a priest's robes should hang bells, and

Trevor: 00:03:35

among the bells, red pomegranates.

Alice: 00:03:38

is I found a psychological study that may interest you, Trevor.

Alice: 00:03:41

Recent research conducted with humans.

Alice: 00:03:44

Demonstrated that red, relative to other colors, led men to

Alice: 00:03:48

view women, as more attractive.

Alice: 00:03:51

The effect of color on behavior was tested in a tipping context.

Alice: 00:03:56

Eleven Waitresses In five restaurants, we're instructed to wear the same

Alice: 00:04:00

t shirt with different colours white, red, blue, green or yellow.

Alice: 00:04:05

The effect of colour on tipping, according to patrons gender, was measured.

Alice: 00:04:10

It was found that waitresses wearing red received more tips,

Alice: 00:04:14

but only with male patrons.

Alice: 00:04:16

Waitress's colour had no effect on female patrons tipping behaviour.

Trevor: 00:04:21

A good fun fact there, Alice, your fun fact incorporating human foibles and

Trevor: 00:04:27

financial advice is probably going to be more popular with our listening audience

Trevor: 00:04:31

than My fun fact about the early words of Pope Gregory referring to pomegranates.

Trevor: 00:04:37

Anyway, enough talk about the colour red in general, let's

Trevor: 00:04:41

now turn to Alizarin Crimson.

Alice: 00:04:44

The history of Alizarin Crimson

Alice: 00:04:46

begins with the Madder plant, the natural red dye made from the root of the Madder

Alice: 00:04:52

plant, was first used to dye fabrics over 3, 000 years ago and was one of the

Alice: 00:04:57

first dyes to be made into a lake pigment.

Trevor: 00:05:01

You will remember dear listener that we discussed in an earlier episode

Trevor: 00:05:05

that dyes are different to pigments in that dyes are soluble, whereas pigments

Trevor: 00:05:11

remain as tiny particles that are dispersed or suspended in the binder.

Trevor: 00:05:18

Lake pigments are created.

Trevor: 00:05:20

When you get a colourless particle and manage to fix the dye onto that

Trevor: 00:05:27

colourless particle so that the dye and the Particle are virtually inseparable.

Alice: 00:05:33

You may sometimes see a reference to a colour called Madder

Alice: 00:05:38

Lake and that simply means a like pigment created using the matter root.

Trevor: 00:05:44

There's a great video on YouTube by Alchemical Arts where this

Trevor: 00:05:49

guy takes some matter root, he mixes it with some sulfuric acid to break

Trevor: 00:05:53

it down, he filters it at various stages to get rid of impurities.

Trevor: 00:05:57

He adds Alum, which is the colourless particle that we've spoken about, and then

Trevor: 00:06:05

he adds Sodium Carbonate, which alters the pH, causing the mixture to precipitate.

Trevor: 00:06:11

And voila, he creates the pigment known as Madder Lake.

Trevor: 00:06:17

It's actually very entertaining, and there's a link in the

Trevor: 00:06:19

show notes to that video.

Alice: 00:06:21

In 1826, a French chemist discovered that the matter root

Alice: 00:06:26

contained two coloring components, the first being Alizarin, and the second

Alice: 00:06:32

being a more rapidly fading purpurin.

Trevor: 00:06:35

In 18 68, 2 German chemists found a way.

Trevor: 00:06:40

To produce alizarin from anthracene, so it was no longer

Trevor: 00:06:44

necessary to use madder plants.

Alice: 00:06:47

At the same time, an English chemist independently discovered the

Alice: 00:06:51

same process, although he filed his patent one day after the German chemist.

Trevor: 00:06:56

Yes, filing his patent one day later would have cost him

Trevor: 00:07:00

a substantial amount of money.

Trevor: 00:07:01

And speaking of losing money, anyone involved in the matter industry who

Trevor: 00:07:06

was growing matter plants Also, then, would have lost a lot of money because

Trevor: 00:07:10

they were able to extract anthracene from coal tar, which made it so

Trevor: 00:07:16

much cheaper to make the alizarin.

Trevor: 00:07:18

So the madder plant industry collapsed almost overnight.

Alice: 00:07:22

Is this a good time for an unrelated fun fact, Trevor?

Trevor: 00:07:25

Go right ahead, Alice.

Alice: 00:07:27

The colour red does not make bulls angry.

Alice: 00:07:30

It is the flutter and swish of the cape.

Alice: 00:07:33

That the bulls react to.

Alice: 00:07:35

And we know this because bulls are partially colourblind.

Alice: 00:07:39

They cannot see the colour red.

Trevor: 00:07:41

Yes, it's very interesting, Alice.

Trevor: 00:07:42

Mammals have a collection of cone cells on the back of their eyes.

Trevor: 00:07:47

And there are three kinds, one that detects red, another that detects green,

Trevor: 00:07:52

and then the last kind that detects blue.

Trevor: 00:07:55

You will notice that there isn't, for example, a cone cell that detects yellow.

Trevor: 00:08:00

So how do we see the color yellow?

Trevor: 00:08:02

The answer is that the cones are sensitive to the amount of the

Trevor: 00:08:07

colored light that they detect.

Trevor: 00:08:09

The colour yellow is made up of red and green.

Trevor: 00:08:13

This will partially stimulate both the red cone and the green cone, and we

Trevor: 00:08:19

will see the combination as yellow.

Alice: 00:08:22

Trevor, many people listening to this are possibly thinking that you

Alice: 00:08:25

made a mistake by suggesting that red and green can combine to make yellow.

Trevor: 00:08:31

Well Alice, there are two types of colour systems

Trevor: 00:08:34

with two types of colour wheels.

Trevor: 00:08:36

Most artists would be familiar with the subtractive color system,

Trevor: 00:08:41

which is based on reflected light.

Trevor: 00:08:44

However, there is another color system of additive color, which

Trevor: 00:08:47

relies on mixing transmitted light.

Trevor: 00:08:51

For example, televisions and computer screens.

Trevor: 00:08:54

If, instead of looking at pure yellow as a dot of light, you looked instead

Trevor: 00:08:59

at a red dot, very close to a green dot, with the right balance, you would

Trevor: 00:09:04

still experience yellow because the red cones and the green cones are

Trevor: 00:09:08

being stimulated in the same way.

Trevor: 00:09:10

This fact makes the manufacture of computer screens very practical.

Trevor: 00:09:14

Instead of implanting a million pixels into a computer screen at every point,

Trevor: 00:09:19

each with a different colour, the manufacturer only has to construct a

Trevor: 00:09:22

grid of red, green and blue pixels.

Trevor: 00:09:25

We as humans are actually looking at an array of red, green and blue

Trevor: 00:09:30

dots on a screen, but are able to perceive a huge variety of colours.

Alice: 00:09:35

So, going back to the bull with the matador's cape, the bull's

Alice: 00:09:39

vision is very similar to the vision of a human, with red cone colour

Alice: 00:09:44

blindness, known as protanopia.

Alice: 00:09:47

To them, a red cape looks yellowish grey.

Trevor: 00:09:50

So, returning to Alizarin Crimson, the question is What

Trevor: 00:09:54

colour is Alizarin Crimson?

Trevor: 00:09:57

What kind of red colour is it?

Trevor: 00:09:59

Well, if we're looking at Madder Lake, made from the root of the Madder plant,

Trevor: 00:10:05

we're actually looking at two components, Alizarin, which is a bluish red, and

Trevor: 00:10:11

Purpurin, which is a fiery orange.

Trevor: 00:10:14

So the colour will change depending on the proportion of Purpurin.

Trevor: 00:10:18

in the mixture.

Trevor: 00:10:19

However, as it is sold today, the colour is consistently a dark, intense

Trevor: 00:10:25

crimson when wet, but undergoes a very large shift in colour as it dries.

Trevor: 00:10:30

It lightens, loses saturation, and tends towards a more maroon colour.

Alice: 00:10:36

Because the synthetically made Alizarin Crimson does not contain

Alice: 00:10:40

any purpurin, it is a deep, cool red with a high tinting strength.

Alice: 00:10:45

It has a slight blue hue.

Trevor: 00:10:48

So having told you all of this wonderful information about Madder Lake

Trevor: 00:10:51

and Alizarin Crimson, we're now going to get into the section which describes

Trevor: 00:10:57

why you probably shouldn't use it.

Alice: 00:11:00

Yes Trevor, there is debate and argument about this point, but

Alice: 00:11:04

the Jackson's website has probably summarises the situation quite well.

Alice: 00:11:09

They say that, despite being more lightfast than its predecessor, Madder

Alice: 00:11:14

Lake, alizarin crimson is known to fade when exposed to UV light, especially

Alice: 00:11:19

when used in dilute washes or tints.

Alice: 00:11:23

Whether or not it is suitable for professional artwork is a point of

Alice: 00:11:26

debate among artists and conservators.

Alice: 00:11:29

On his site Handprint, Bruce McAvoy says.

Alice: 00:11:32

that it fades so reliably in watercolour that he uses it as a control

Alice: 00:11:36

colour for his lightfastness tests.

Alice: 00:11:40

He concludes that Alizarin Crimson, PR83, is unsuitable for professional watercolour

Alice: 00:11:47

artworks, but on the other hand, Research by Golden shows that the pigment has

Alice: 00:11:52

a good lightfastness rating when bound in oil and used at full strength.

Trevor: 00:11:57

Yes, when we do a full episode on lightfastness, we'll be explaining

Trevor: 00:12:02

how the lightfastness of pigments can vary depending on the binder that's

Trevor: 00:12:07

used and depending on whether the pigment is at full strength or not.

Alice: 00:12:12

The Colour Index Generic Name Code for Alizarin Crimson.

Alice: 00:12:16

His PR 83.

Alice: 00:12:18

There are plenty of alternative pigments that artists could consider, such as

Alice: 00:12:23

PR 176, PR 264, PR 177, or even reddish varieties of the violet pigment PV 19.

Trevor: 00:12:34

Let's look at an example of a substitution.

Trevor: 00:12:37

In a previous episode, I did a comparison between the budget oil range.

Trevor: 00:12:42

of Winsor Newton called Winton and the budget oil range of

Trevor: 00:12:47

Royal Talens called Van Gogh.

Trevor: 00:12:49

The Van Gogh range has a colour called Alizarin Crimson.

Trevor: 00:12:53

and it uses the genuine pigment PR83.

Alice: 00:12:56

In contrast, the Winton range has a colour called Permanent Alizarin

Alice: 00:13:01

Crimson and it uses the pigment PR177.

Trevor: 00:13:06

When you see a colour preceded by the word permanent, as in Permanent

Trevor: 00:13:11

Alizarin Crimson, then that's a guide that the manufacturer He's using a different

Trevor: 00:13:17

pigment to the genuine pigment and has chosen one that is more light fast.

Alice: 00:13:22

PR 177 is Anthraquinone Red and it has a much better light

Alice: 00:13:28

fastness rating than Alizarin Crimson.

Trevor: 00:13:31

Yes, when you look at the information on the tubes, the Van Gogh

Trevor: 00:13:35

Alizarin Crimson uses a double plus sign, which in the Royal Talons world

Trevor: 00:13:40

means it's rated as light fast, but for a minimum of 25 years, whereas the Winton

Trevor: 00:13:47

colour of Permanent Alizarin Crimson is rated by Winsor Newton as being

Trevor: 00:13:52

lightfast for a minimum of 100 years.

Trevor: 00:13:55

In both cases, of course, it assumes that the lighting matches museum conditions.

Alice: 00:14:01

Unfortunately, the lightfastness of PR 177 isn't so clear cut.

Alice: 00:14:07

David McEvoy, on his website, has questioned its lightfastness, and I

Alice: 00:14:11

came across Another website, which we will link to in the show notes, in which

Alice: 00:14:16

Virgil Elliott questions the lightfastness of PR 177 when tinted with white.

Trevor: 00:14:23

Yes, it's probably not all that surprising as PR 177

Trevor: 00:14:27

is a chemical cousin of PR 177.

Trevor: 00:14:31

Anyway, Alice, we're near the end.

Trevor: 00:14:33

It's time to finish up with another fun fact about the colour red in general.

Alice: 00:14:38

Cassia St Clair, in her book, The Secret Lives of Colour, says that

Alice: 00:14:43

Coca Cola owes its colours to the red and white flag of Peru, which is where

Alice: 00:14:49

the company sourced the cocoa leaves.

Alice: 00:14:52

And cocaine, that it's drinks contained until the 1920s.

Trevor: 00:14:56

Dear listener, as part of our service to you, we try

Trevor: 00:14:59

to double check our facts.

Trevor: 00:15:01

And we got onto the Coca Cola website.

Trevor: 00:15:03

And it claimed a different history.

Trevor: 00:15:06

It says that the Coca Cola inventor, Dr.

Trevor: 00:15:09

John Pemberton's bookkeeper and partner, Frank Robinson, initially

Trevor: 00:15:14

suggested the name Coca Cola and crafted the iconic logo.

Trevor: 00:15:18

Robinson liked the contrast of red and white, and would write, Coca Cola,

Trevor: 00:15:23

delicious and refreshing, with red lettering over a white background.

Trevor: 00:15:27

On the company's earliest signage.

Trevor: 00:15:31

I don't know which version to believe, Alice, because it wouldn't surprise me if

Trevor: 00:15:35

the modern day Coca Cola company tried to disassociate itself from any connection

Trevor: 00:15:41

with what is now an illegal drug.

Trevor: 00:15:43

What do you think, Alice?

Trevor: 00:15:44

Do you have an opinion as to which version may be accurate?

Alice: 00:15:48

Insufficient facts always invite danger.

Alice: 00:15:53

Mr Spock, Star Trek Season 1, Episode 24.

Trevor: 00:15:57

As always Alice, your knowledge is almost encyclopedic.

Trevor: 00:16:01

It's as if you're somehow Wired into the internet.

Trevor: 00:16:06

Anyway, dear listener, we'll finish off there.

Trevor: 00:16:08

We hope you enjoyed the episode.

Trevor: 00:16:09

We'll be back with another one shortly.

Trevor: 00:16:12

Bye for now.

Alice: 00:16:14

Goodbye, and may your system remain stable.

Trevor: 00:16:19

That was great, Alice.

Trevor: 00:16:21

I'll talk to you again next week.

Trevor: 00:16:23

In the meantime, maybe try and Not watch so much Olympics, try and get

Trevor: 00:16:28

some rest, maybe don't worry about some of the craziness over there in Paris.

Alice: 00:16:32

I just watched a bunch of triathletes eagerly

Alice: 00:16:36

jump into the Seine River.

Alice: 00:16:38

As Mr Spock would say, it does not seem logical.

Trevor: 00:16:42

Ah, Alice, but Spock also said, logic is the beginning

Trevor: 00:16:46

of wisdom, not the end of it.

Trevor: 00:16:49

Well we hope you enjoyed that episode.

Trevor: 00:16:51

If you want more information about the episode or this podcast, you

Trevor: 00:16:55

can look at the show notes and there will be information there.

Trevor: 00:16:58

There will also be information about how to contact us, give us some

Trevor: 00:17:01

feedback, ask us some questions.

Trevor: 00:17:03

Maybe correct us if we've made a mistake.

Trevor: 00:17:06

If you really like the show and you want to help us, then the best way to do

Trevor: 00:17:09

that is to tell your friends, the people you think might be interested in this

Trevor: 00:17:14

podcast, tell them about the podcast, get them to subscribe, pass the word around.

Trevor: 00:17:19

That really is the best way to promote a podcast, is by word of mouth.

Trevor: 00:17:23

And if you'd like to help us, that's the best way you can do it.

Trevor: 00:17:26

Okay, until next time.

Trevor: 00:17:28

Bye

Trevor: 00:17:31

for now.